Bag for crushing objects

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a plastic bag suitable for crushing and dispensing an object, such as medicinal pill. The bag has an open end, is strong enough to withstand crushing forces, and includes a bottom seal that forms an angle of greater than 90° with the sides of the bag. For example, the bottom seal may be curved and concave toward the open end of the bag. The bag may also include a lip near the opening and formed by one of the bag walls. The bag may also include a gripper on any of (1) the interior or exterior surfaces of the lip or (2) the interior or exterior surface of the other wall. The bag may also include an indicator mark, e.g., a colored line near the opening to serve as a visual and/or tactile indicator for the user of the bag.

I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to containers used in crushing or otherwise reducing medicine from pill or tablet form to powder form and methods to manufacture such containers. More particularly, it relates to plastic bags used to contain the medicine during the crushing process and a method to manufacture such plastic bags.

It is widely known that many people have difficultly swallowing a pill or tablet regardless of size. As a result, such people often crush pills into a powder to make the medicine easier to take. Once crushed the user may mix the powdered medicine with a liquid, food, or another substance to make the medicine easier to take, or the user may simply consume the powder directly. Although crushing a pill may render medicine easier to ingest, it has disadvantages including losing or contaminating a portion of the dose while crushing the pill. To avoid losing or contaminating the medicine while crushing a pill, users often place the pill between two layers of material such as cloth, paper, or plastic before crushing it. For example, the two layers of material can be the sides of a plastic bag. Once the pill is positioned between layers of material, the user may crush the pill by using a hard object to apply pressure to the surface of the pill until the pill breaks into pieces. The user continues applying pressure until the pill is pulverized into sufficiently small granules. Such methods for crushing pills typically cause the user to lose a portion of the pill. For example, some of the pill may be embedded in the layers of material used to contain the pill or lodged in the corner of the plastic bag or other container. During the process of crushing the pill, it may also get contaminated with dirt, bacteria, or other undesirable substances introduced by the material used to contain the pill, the objects used to apply the pressure, or the objects used to retrieve the crushed pill from the materials used to contain the pill. Additional disadvantages include possible injury during the crushing process, and other possible physical hazards stemming from pieces of the crushed object acting as a projectile.

A conventional method of crushing one or more pills involves positioning the pill inside a polyethylene bag having an open end and walls of the same size and shape. When using such a bag to contain a pill for crushing, a portion of the crushed pill typically lodges in the lower corners of the bag and remains difficult to retrieve without significant additional effort. A portion of the crushed pill also adheres to the interior surfaces of the walls of the bag, for example, because of a small static charge that is typically present on the surface of a plastic bag or that can be generated by the crushing process. As a result, the entire dose of the pill may not be available for ingestion.

II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventor has developed a bag that addresses the disadvantages described above and minimizes the amount of medicine lost or contaminated when crushing a pill. A bag according to the convention has a front wall and a back wall as depicted in FIG. 4. Each wall has a first side edge, a second side edge, a top edge, and a bottom edge. The respective bottom edges, first side edges, and second side edges of the front and back walls are connected to create an interior region. Although the front and back walls of a bag according to the invention can be made from various plastic materials, low density polyethylene (LDPE) is suitable and approved by the FDA for containing food and medicine. The walls are preferably at least 6 mil thick to withstand without failing the forces applied during crushing. However, any thickness of the bag walls that withstands the forces applied during crushing is sufficient. The seal at the bottom of the bag defines an angle α inside the bag interior of greater than 90° and less than 180° with each of the side edges of the bag. Increasing the angle a beyond 90° reduces the amount of crushed, powdered material that may remain lodged in the bag during dispensing. A preferred minimum angle α is 120°. This bottom seal can be curved with the concave side facing the top (open end of the bag) as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the bottom seal may be defined as a series of two or more connected linear segments (not illustrated) arranged so that the angle α on each side of the bag is greater than 90° and less than 180° and all angles between any two connected segments is also greater than 90° and less than 180°.

The bag according to the invention may also incorporate several additional features that facilitate its use. For example, to maximize the proportion of crushed material that can be extracted reliably from the bag, the walls may be made with a material that includes an additive or interior coating that minimizes static charge, reduces friction between the interior walls and the contents of the bag or both. Such anti-static and anti-friction additives are commercially available and known. The free top edge of the back wall may extend beyond the free top edge of the front wall to form a lip that makes the bag easier to open by providing a part of the bag that the user can grasp easily when the bag is closed. This lip may also include a gripper portion defined by features on the interior, exterior, or both surfaces of the lip (or the front and/or back walls near the opening) to assist further the user in opening the bag. For example, gripper portion is illustrated in FIG. 4 as one or more gripper lines that protrude from the exterior surface of the lip and extend approximately parallel to the top edge of the back wall. Alternatively, the gripper portion may be a texture that is embossed or printed upon the interior and/or exterior surfaces of the lip (or the front and/or back walls of the bag if no lip is present). Placing the gripper portion on the exterior of the bag allows the crushed material to be poured from the bag across the lip without obstruction. To assist in aligning, registering, or orienting the bag in a pill crushing device, the bottom edge of the bag may extend beyond the bottom seal and away from the open top edge of the bag as depicted in FIG. 4 to form a flat bottom edge. The bag may also include relatively wide sealed seams that extend along at least portions of the first and second side edges. A preferred width of 0.125 inches or more causes the bag to open more readily when the user grasps the sides of the bag and squeezes them together. These seams also increase the strength of the sides of the bag to prevent bursting when pressure is applied to crush a pill. A bag according to the invention may also include an indicator mark to permit a quick visual identification of the unsealed edge of the bag. For example, the indicator mark may be an integrally extruded line of material near the open end of the bag (which may be colored) as depicted in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the indicator mark may be pressed or printed near the top edge of either wall. Either of these two types of indicator marks may further ease the opening of the bag when the user squeezes the sides of the open end of the bag together.

The foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and do not restrict the claims directed to the invention. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one embodiment of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

III. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an extrusion system used to make a bag according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from above of an die assembly suitable for making a bag according to the invention with the system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a representative section of material taken from a tubular film extruded through the die assembly of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a frontal perspective view of a first embodiment of a bag according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the bag illustrated in FIG. 4 taken along lines 5-5.

FIG. 6 is a schematic frontal perspective view of a tubular film extruded from the extrusion die assembly of FIG. 2 after it has been cut longitudinally and folded into a J-shaped configuration and depicting one method of making side seams on the bag of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the tubular film illustrated in FIG. 6 depicting one method of making the curved bottom seal on the bag of FIG. 4.

IV. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This application refers in detail below to the exemplary embodiments of the bag according to the invention, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the application uses the same reference numbers throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similar items.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a system suitable for manufacturing bags according to the invention. Raw material such as FDA-approved, food-grade, LDPE resin is fed into the intake 10 of an extrusion machine 11, which melts the raw material and extrudes it through a die assembly 12 to create a tubular film 30. After exiting the die assembly 12, the tubular film 30 is cooled, for example, by the blower 17 and rolled onto a spool 18. Die assembly 12 shown in FIG. 2 is configured to include one or more notches 40 so that the tubular film 30, shown in FIG. 3, includes one or more longitudinal ridges 31 (e.g., two ridges are illustrated in FIG. 1), which eventually constitute gripper 51 on the finished bag. Additionally, a secondary extrusion head 14 to add a strip 32 to the tubular film 30 (or ridges 31 or any other feature appropriately applied longitudinally on tubular film 30). The strip 32 is made of a thermoplastic material compatible with the bag walls (preferably colored LDPE) in that it is capable of binding to or melting into the material used to form the tubular film 31. Eventually, strip 32 constitutes the indicator mark 52 shown in FIG. 4 on the finished bag.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from above of the die assembly 12 that is suitable for making a bag according to the invention with the system shown in FIG. 1. The melted raw material from the extrusion machine in FIG. 1 is forced between the inner plate 20 and the outer plate 21 of die assembly 12. Longitudinal channels 40 protrude substantially radially outward on outer plate 21 form ridges 31 on the exterior surface of tubular film 30. Channels (not illustrated) that are similar to channels 40 may be added (or substituted for channels 40 on outer plate 21) to protrude substantially radially inward on inner plate 20 to form ridges on the inner surface of tubular film 30. Die assembly 12 also includes an aperture 22 that permits pressurized air (or some other gas as required) to be injected into the interior of the tubular film 30 as it exits the die assembly 12. Injecting air or gas through aperture 22 helps to maintain the thickness of the walls of tubular film 30 and the generally circular cylindrical shape of tubular film 30.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a representative section of material taken from the tubular film 30 extruded through the die assembly 12 of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 illustrates the tubular film 30 including ridges 31, which constitute gripper 51 in the finished bag 50. FIG. 3 also illustrates the strip 32, which constitutes the indicator mark 52 on the finished bag. Also shown in FIG. 3 is cut line 33, which represents the line along which tubular film 30 is longitudinally cut to define the top edges of the finished bag.

FIG. 4 is a frontal perspective view of an embodiment of a bag 50 according to the invention. The bag 50 includes a back wall 58 and a front wall 59 that are joined by the side seals 56 along side edges 60 and 61 and the bottom seal 62 near bottom edge 57 to define an interior with an opening 54, which is located at the top of the bag 50 shown in FIG. 4. Back wall 58 extends farther from the bottom seal 62 than the front wall 59 to define a lip 53 extending beyond the top edge 55 of front wall 59. The lip 53 provides the user a convenient handling point for identifying the open end 54, opening the bag 50, and orienting the opening 54 of the bag 50. The front wall 59 and back wall 58 are sufficiently thick (at least about 5 mil and preferably at least about 6 mil) to enable the walls to withstand the forces applied when a user crushes a pill or other object in the interior of the bag 50. The thickness of the front and back walls also facilitates opening the bag 50 along substantially its entire length when opening 54 is opened. In turn, opening the bag along its entire length increases the likelihood that the user will be able to dispense substantially all the crushed material from the interior of the bag.

As shown in FIG. 4, seals 56 are relatively wide seams along the first side edge 60 and the second side edge 61. The use of wide seals, while not strictly necessary, further enhances the user's ability to open bag 50 along substantially its entire length. These wide seals also enhance the bag's ability to withstand pressures applied while crushing a pill. Seals 56 are preferably at least about 0.125 inch wide.

The bottom seal 62 illustrated in FIG. 4 intersects with each of side edges 60 and 61 and defines a vertex at each intersection. The angles a defined by these vertices (or “corners”) is greater than 90° and less than 180° (with a preferred angle of at least 120°), to minimize the tendency of crushed material to lodge in these “corners” of the interior of bag 50. While seal 62 is substantially continuously curved between these corners, other geometries for seal 62 are acceptable. For example, seal 62 may be formed as a series of two or more connected linear segments (not illustrated) arranged so that the angles α are greater than 90° and less than 180° and all angles defined by the vertices formed by any two connected linear segments are also greater than 90° and less than 180°. A curved seal 62, as shown, is preferred because it minimizes the number of vertices formed along the seal 62, which therefore also minimizes the amount of crushed material that lodges in such vertices.

Gripper 51 is illustrated on the exterior surface of lip 53 allowing easy handling and opening of the bag. The gripper 51 provides tactile feedback and improve friction between the user's fingers and the lip, which assists the user in opening the bag. While gripper 51 is shown in the exterior surface of the lip 53 on the back wall 58, it may also be located on the interior surface of the lip 53, the interior surface of the front wall 59, the exterior surface of the front wall 59, or any combination of all four surfaces. The gripper is illustrated as two parallel lines, which originated as ridges 31 in the manufacturing process. While the number of ridges 31 affects the functional effectiveness of gripper 51, it is possible for any number of ridges 31 to serve as a gripper. Alternatively, the geometry of the gripper 51 need not be as shown in FIG. 4. For example, gripper 51 may be a series of dots, dashes, or some other shape different from the substantially parallel ridges 31 shown. Additionally, the gripper may be added to bag 50 via a variety of methods other than the direct extrusion of ridges 31 on tubular film 30 described in connection with FIGS. 1-3. For example, the gripper may be added by a separate extrusion head like secondary extrusion head 14 or by a type of printing process that deposits and binds material on the surface of the bag in the appropriate locations.

The bag shown in FIG. 4 also includes the optional indicator mark 52 that is positioned near opening 54. The indicator mark may be imprinted on a surface of the front wall 59 or back wall 58 or incorporated as additional thermoplastic material that is incorporated into (e.g., by being integrally extruded) or onto (e.g., by being separately extruded) one of these surfaces. The indicator mark 52 (e.g., a colored line that is substantially parallel to the edge defining the open end of the bag) provides a visual cue that further aids the user in identifying the opening 54 of the bag 50. The indicator mark 52 if formed of additional material rather than being imprinted on the bag 50 also provides a tactile cue and adds stiffness to the portion of front wall 59 near opening 54. This added stiffness enhances the ease with which the user can open bag 50 to dispense crushed material inside bag 50. The thickness added by an extruded version of indicator mark 52 increases the ease of producing a sufficiently wide opening when side edges 60 and 61 are squeezed toward each other.

The bag 50 shown also includes a bottom 57 edge, which is typically closed if bag 50 is formed using the system described above. However, bottom edge 57 need not be closed. To assist in aligning, registering, or orienting the bag in a pill crushing device, the bottom edge 57 may extend in a direction away from the opening 54 and beyond the bottom seal 62 to form a flat bottom edge as depicted in FIG. 4. However, the geometry of bottom edge 57 could be altered as desired to match geometry of a pill crushing device. For example, the bottom edge 57 could have a shape (not illustrated) that is concave downward (with reference to FIG. 4). Such a shape could mate with a complementary mounting surface in a pill crushing device to ensure precise registration of the bag in the device by tending to cause the bag to center itself on the complementary mounting surface. The shape of bottom edge 57 may also be altered to create a desired aesthetic effect.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the bag 50 illustrated in FIG. 4 taken along lines 5-5. The figure illustrates aspects of the gripper 51, an indicator mark 52 made of added material rather than being imprinted, and lip 53.

FIG. 6 is a schematic frontal perspective view of a tubular film 30 extruded from the extrusion die assembly of FIG. 2 after it has been cut longitudinally along cut line 33 and folded into a J-shaped configuration. FIG. 6 further illustrates the manner in which wide seals 56 shown in FIG. 4 are made as heat seams 70 that are spaced apart with desired spacing W (measured from center to center of adjacent sealed portions of the tubing 30). When tubular film 30 is cut along cut line 33 and folded into the J-shape shown in FIG. 6, the fold at the bottom of the film defines the front wall 59 and back wall 58. The fold is located such that the edge 63 of back wall 58 is farther from the fold than the edge 64 of front wall 59 to define a back wall 58 that is taller than front wall 59. The difference in height between back wall 58 and front wall 59 defines the height of the lip 53. Also shown in FIG. 6 are gripper 51 and indicator mark 52.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the J-shaped film 30 illustrated in FIG. 6 depicting a method of making the curved bottom seal 62 shown on the bag 50 illustrated in FIG. 4. Heat seams 80 are formed as shown to bind front wall 59 to the back wall 58 and close the what will become the bottom of bag 50 shown in FIG. 4. Cut lines 82, also separated by spacing W, are preferably located to coincide with the vertical (as shown in FIG. 6) centerline of heat seams 70. The J-shaped film 30 is cut along cut lines 82 to form the individual bags. Heat seams 80 may be formed in the J-shaped film 30 before or after the J-shaped film 30 is cut along cut lines 82. However, it is preferred to form heat seams 80 before the cutting operation because it is easier to precisely register the J-shaped film 30 in the heat sealing machine than to register individual bags.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the embodiments of a bag according to the invention and methods of making such a bag that are described above without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Therefore, other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from their consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed above. The applicant intends that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. 

1. A bag suited for crushing an object and dispensing the crushed object, comprising: A. a front wall of a material at least 5 mil thick and defining a front top edge, a front first side edge, a front second side edge, a front bottom edge, a front interior surface, and a front exterior surface; B. a back wall of the material of at least 5 mil thick and defining a back top edge, a back first side edge, a back second side edge, a back bottom edge, a back interior surface, and a back exterior surface, in which: i. the front first side edge is connected to the back first side edge to define a first side seal, ii. the front second side edge is connected to the back second side edge to define a second side seal, and iii. the front top edge and the back top edge define a bag opening; and C. a bottom seal that: i. connects the front interior surface to the back interior surface, ii. extends from the front first side edge to the front second side edge, and iii. defines: a. a first vertex with the front first side edge defining a first angle α such that 90°<first angle α<180° and b. a second vertex with the front second side edge defining a second angle a such that 90°<second angle α<180°.
 2. The bag of claim 1 in which the first side seal and the second side seal are at least 0.125 inches wide.
 3. The bag of claim 2 in which the material includes a static reducing agent.
 4. The bag of claim 3 in which the material is low density polyethylene.
 5. The bag of claim 4, in which the back top edge is located farther from the bottom seal than the front top edge to define a lip portion.
 6. The bag of claim 5, further comprising an indicator mark on the bag near the bag opening.
 7. The bag of claim 6 in which the indicator mark is a line substantially parallel to the front top edge.
 8. The bag of claim 6 in which the indicator mark is printed on the bag.
 9. The bag of claim 6, further comprising a gripper on the bag near the bag opening.
 10. The bag of claim 9 in which the gripper comprises a protrusion on the surface of the bag.
 11. The bag of claim 10 in which the protrusion is substantially linear and of a length substantially equal to the distance between the first side seal and the second side seal.
 12. The bag of claim 9 in which: A. the front top edge is linear; B. the front bottom edge is substantially parallel to the front top edge along at least a portion of the front bottom edge; C. the back bottom edge is linear; and D. the back bottom edge is substantially parallel to the back top edge along at least a portion of the back bottom edge.
 13. The bag of claim 1 in which the material includes a static reducing agent.
 14. The bag of claim 1 in which the material is a low density polyethylene.
 15. The bag of claim 1 in which the back top edge is located farther from the bottom seal than the front top edge to define a lip portion.
 16. The bag of claim 1, further comprising an indicator mark on the bag near the bag opening.
 17. The bag of claim 16 in which the indicator mark is a line substantially parallel to the front top edge.
 18. The bag of claim 16 in which the indicator mark is printed on the bag.
 19. The bag of claim 1, further comprising a gripper on the bag near the bag opening.
 20. The bag of claim 19 in which the gripper comprises a protrusion on the surface of the bag.
 21. The bag of claim 20 in which the protrusion is substantially linear and of a length substantially equal to the distance between the first side seal and the second side seal.
 22. The bag of claim 1 in which: A. the front top edge is linear; B. the front bottom edge is substantially parallel to the front top edge along at least a portion of the front bottom edge; C. the back bottom edge is linear; and D. the back bottom edge is substantially parallel to the back top edge along at least a portion of the back bottom edge.
 23. A bag suitable for crushing an object and dispensing the crushed object, comprising: A. a front wall; B. a back wall; C. means for sealing the respective side edges of the front wall and the back wall to each other; D. means for sealing the respective interior surfaces of the front wall and the back wall near the respective bottom edges of the front wall and the back wall; E. means for indicating the open end of the bag; and F. means for gripping a surface of the bag. 